How to Visit SOAS or Learn About Student Life Before Applying

Updated

You can visit SOAS in person at the Undergraduate Open Day on 17 October (registration required on the SOAS website), and you can explore student life remotely through the university's student life pages, student blogs, and events listings. These routes suit applicants who want a feel for campus, London living, and day-to-day experience before committing to an application.

Visit in person: Undergraduate Open Day

SOAS runs an on-campus Undergraduate Open Day on 17 October. The site invites prospective students to "join us on campus" and register in advance.

  • What to do: Go to the SOAS website and register for the Open Day.
  • What to expect: A campus visit framed around discovering "why we're The World's University" — the open day is the main structured in-person touchpoint promoted on the homepage.
  • Best for: Applicants deciding between universities who want to see the campus and London location firsthand.

If you cannot make that date, the site's events section ("What's on — All events") is the place to check for other scheduled sessions.

Explore student life online

The student life section is built around first-hand accounts: "Explore student life at SOAS and find out what students have to say about the student experience, campus life, and living in London."

Use it to answer practical questions a prospectus won't cover:

  • What campus life is actually like day to day
  • What living in London means for a student at SOAS
  • How current students describe their experience in their own words

Read student blogs and first-year stories

The SOAS blogs give unfiltered perspectives that are useful before applying. Examples from the site:

  • "Finding your place at SOAS: Hannah's first-year story" — Hannah had studied at two other universities before SOAS and started feeling behind, but support gradually helped her feel she belonged. Useful if you are worried about settling in or transferring.
  • "Starting uni? Here's what nobody tells you (and where to find help)" — written by the SOAS Student Advice and Wellbeing team, covering tips for settling into university life and where to find support.
  • "Where SOAS graduates are taking their careers after university" — the Class of 2026 share their next career steps and how their time at SOAS shaped them. Useful for weighing outcomes, not just the student experience.
  • "The degree that runs Britain": Why I chose PPE — a BSc Politics, Philosophy and Economics student reflects on choosing the combined subject and how it helped them understand societal decisions.

These are experience pieces, not official prospectus claims — treat them as one input alongside course pages and open-day conversations.

Check what's on before you go

The events listing ("All events") collects everything scheduled at SOAS. Before booking travel, check it for open days, talks, and other sessions that fit your subject interests — a subject-specific event can be more informative than a general open day.

A practical sequence

  1. Register for the 17 October Undergraduate Open Day if the date works.
  2. Read two or three student blogs in your intended subject area (for example, the PPE piece if you are considering combined social science degrees).
  3. Browse the student life pages for campus and London living context.
  4. Check the events listing for any additional sessions before or after your visit.

What this won't tell you

The site material covers the visit and student-experience side well, but it does not publish open-day capacity limits, travel advice, or accommodation details in the pages reviewed here. For those, use the registration flow and the events listings directly.